Minister concerned at Bihari labourers held hostage

Expressing concern at reports of 30 Bihari labourers kept hostage by their employers in Coimbatore, Bihar Labour Minister Awdesh Narayan Singh said that he had directed senior officials to contact their TN counterparts.

Patna: Expressing concern at reports of
30 Bihari labourers kept hostage by their employers in
Coimbatore, Bihar Labour Minister Awdesh Narayan Singh on Sunday
said that he had directed senior officials to contact their
Tamil Nadu counterparts to ensure the labourers` release.

"I am concerned with the safety of the Bihari
labourers being held in captivity by their employers in
Coimbatore," he told PTI here.

Singh said that he has spoken to senior state
government officials to take up the matter with their
counterparts in Tamil Nadu and ensure the well being of the
Bihari labourers, besides making arrangements for them to
return home.

If necessary, the Labour department may send a team of
officials to Coimbatore to bring back the group of Bihari
labourers, the Labour Minister said.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Rohtas district said
that they had been told by some villagers of having
received distress calls from their kins about being held
hostage by a spinning mill employer in Coimbatore for the past
several days and they had apprised their superiors of it.

The names of the Bihari labourers hailing from
Jadgatpur, Khaneti, Parsatua and Basantpur villagers under
Khargar police station jurisdiction were being compiled for
necessary action to be taken up by the superior authorities,
they said.